Spring for producing soft edges for sinuous springs



March 30, 1954 H. GRATTAN SPRING FOR PRODUCING SOFT EDGES FOR SINUOUS SPRINGS Filed May 26, 1950 WEN ray/7.5m

Patented Mar. 30, 1954 SPRING FOR PRODUCING SOFT EDGES FOR SINUOUS SPRINGS George H. Grattan,

Van Dyke, Micl1., assignor to No-Sag Spring Company, Warren Township, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application May 26, 1950, Serial No. 164,447

6 Claims. I

This invention relates to spring constructions, and particularly to a spring element which forms a soft edge support for a spring assembly.

The invention pertains primarily to a spring to be employed with spring elements made from sinuous spring strips which are formed of wire bent back and forth to form adjacent alternate, oppositely disposed loops joined by straight portions. When the spring elements are supported y the ends across a frame, the ends form a hard seating edge and the central side edges are weak.

The spring of the present invention is of sinuous form having one complete end loop reversely bent, with the projecting end wire bent downwardly on the center line of the spring so that the spring thus formed may be placed over one of the loops of the cushion sinuous element and anchored therein by the downwardly projecting end disposed within the loop. When the projecting end of the spring is secured to a border wire or other element and drawn downwardly thereby, the spring element is securely attached to the assembly. A soft edge may be provided along the front edge of the seat cushion when the sinuous spring strips of the cushion extend laterally along, or the springs may be employed for securing a border wire on the loops of the sinuous spring strips of the assembly when extending from the front to the back frame members.

Accordingly, the main objects of the invention are: to provide a sinuous spring which is supported upon a U-shaped loop of a sinuous spring strip Or similar type of spring strip; to provide a soft edge spring element by reversely bending an end of a sinuous spring strip and deflecting the terminal end downwardly centrally of the strips; to provide a spring which extends over one of the loops of the sidemost strips of an assembly of sinuous spring strips and is anchored thereto when the projecting ends of the springs are secured to a border wire or like element; and, in general, to provide a spring made of sinuous construction for interconnecting the side strips of a spring strip assembly to a border wire or to provide a soft edge to an assembly which is simple in construction and which is readily attached to the strip.

Other objects and features of novelty of the invention will be specifically pointed out or will become apparent when referring, for a better understanding of the invention, to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a broken perspective view of a sinuous spring strip assembly having a spring thereon embodying features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged broken plan view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional View of the structure illustrated in Fig. 2, taken on the line 4--4 thereof, and

Fig. 5 is a view of structure, similar to that illustrated in Fig. 1, showing a difierent form thereof.

Referring to Figs. 1 to i, a spring assembly is illustrated, embodying a frame 10 having front and rear cross members I I and I2 and side members i3. sinuous spring strips It are interconnected to the front and rear frame members II and I? by suitable clips [5. Spring elements 16 are interconnected to certain loops of the sinuous spring strips Hi near the front member II to extend thereabove and to be connected to a ti-shaped border wire I? by the clamping bands 3. Th spring strips it are illustrated and described in the copending application of Henry Hopkes, Jr., Serial No. 594,002, filed May 16, 1945, now Patent 2,551,800, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The side portions E9 of the border wire are anchored by a clip it to the rear frame member I 2 and are secured to the sidemost sinuous spring strips I4 by spring elements 20.

The spring element 29 has a load-supporting portion M, a reversely bent anchoring portion 22 and a downwardly presented terminal end portion 23 which is disposed substantially centrally of the strip. The sinuous spring strip is constructed of wire bent back and forth to provide oppositely presenting adjacent loops 24 and 25 interconnected by straight portions 26. A pair of the loops 2 and 25 of the spring 20 is of a length to be received by the straight portion iii of the spring strip it, with one straight portion 26 of the spring 28 extending under the straight portion 26 of the spring M while the adjacent straight portion 26 of the spring 20 extends over the top of the straight portions 26 of the loop of the spring Hi. The end portion 23 of the strip 2t thereafter is deflected into the loop 2% of the spring it. To assemble the spring 20, it is only necessary to slide the loop 24 thereof over a loop of the spring I l and therafter rock the spring downwardly to have the end 23 project within the loop 2d of the spring Hi. When the free end of the load-supporting portion 2| of the spring '30 is secured to the side portion IQ of the border wire I? by a suitable band I8, the end of the spring is deflected downwardly, thereby securely anchoring the end 23 within the 3 loop 24 of th spring l4. With this construction, resilient support is provided to the side portion [9 of the border wire over which the padding and trim material may be stretched to finish the cushion.

In Fig. 5, a different type of assembly is illustrated, that wherein the spring strips M are connected between the side elements l3 of the frame. The spring elements 20 are employed to provide a soft edge along the front of the seat, while one or more of the spring elements iii are employed at the sides for supporting the border wire. It will be seen from this assembly that whereas the spring elements iii are employed lengthwise of the strips M, the spring elements 20 extend at a right angle thereto and with the use of both spring elements It and 20, a soft edge may be provided around the entire spring assembly irrespective of whether the sinuous spring strips 54 extend transversely or longitudinally of the front frame member.

What is claimed is:

'1. A spring element made or wire bent back and forth to provide adjacent opposite1y presentingioops joined by straight portions and comprising a load-supporting portion, a reversely bent portion containing two loops with the adjacent loops of the load supporting and reversely bent portions forming an aperture for receiving a U- shaped member on which the element is supported, and a downwardly extending end on the reversely bent portion disposable within the U-portion of the member by which the spring element is anchored in position thereon when deflected downwardly thereagainst.

2. A spring strip made of wire bent back and forth to provide adjacent oppositely presenting loops joined by straight portions attachable to a U-shaped support and having a projecting loadsupporting portion, a reversely bent portion with the adjacent loops of the load supporting and reversely bent portions forming an aperture for receiving said U-shaped support, the end of said reversely bent portion being deflected downwardly to project into the opening in said U-shaped support for retaining the spring strip on the support.

3. In a spring assembly, a frame, a plurality of sinuous spring strips spanning said frame, said spring strips having a plurality of adjacent oppositely presenting 100p portions joined by straight portions, a sinuous spring element having a load-supporting portion and a reversely bent portion, the junction of the portions providing a loop which receives a loop of the assembled spring strips and supports the spring element at right angles to the spring strips, and a centrally disposed downwardly projecting end portion which locks the reversely bent end portion on the loop of the spring strip when the spring element is rocked downwardly to have the projecting end disposed within the last said loop.

4. A spring strip made of wire bent back and forth to provide adjacent oppositely disposed loops joined by straight portions, said spring strip having two loops at one end thereof reversely bent to form a supporting portion, the two adjacent straight portions of the reversely bent portion extending under and over a U-shaped supporting member when attached thereto to have the spring strip disposed in extension of said supporting member, the end of the endmost loop of the reversely bent portion being bent at right angles thereto away from the main portion of the spring strip, the length of the reversely bent end portion being less than that of the U-shaped supporting member upon which it is secured when the spring strip is attached thereto.

5. In a soft edge element for attachment to a. stressed sinuous spring formed of Wire bent back and forth to provide adjacent oppositely presenting loops joined by straight portions, said element having an extending body portion terminating in a substantially closed loop which is insertable over a loop and two adjacent straight portions of said stressed sinuous spring against the two loops on the opposite end of the straight portions, said substantially closed loop having an extending end portion projecting downwardly therefrom substantially on the center of the loop for projecting between said straight portions inwardly of the connecting loop thereof when the body of said element is rocked downwardly in fixed relation on said straight portions for preventing the substantially closed loop from sliding therefrom.

6. In a soft edge element for attachment to a stressed sinuous spring formed of Wire bent back and forth to provide adjacent oppositely presenting loops joined by straight portions, said element being constructed from a like stressed sinuous spring strip having a supporting portion and a portion containing two oppositely presenting loops reversely bent therefrom, the adjacent loop being disposed substantially against the supporting portion, the second loop being disposed at an angle to the first loop and therefore at a substantial angle from said supporting portion, the end of the second loop being bent downwardly to be substantially aligned with the center of said loop, said first loop of the reversely bent portion being disposed to receive a loop in the two adjacent straight portions of said stressed sinuous spring, a second loop resting on the top thereof when the supporting portion is rocked to supporting position having the extending end disposed in the area defined by the loop and straight portion of said stressed sinuous spring for preventing the element from being detached from the spring when the supporting portion is loaded.

GEORGE H. GRATTAN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,124,655 Freund July 26, 1938 2,235,554 Hopkes Mar. 18, 1941 2,341,419 Bank Feb. 8, 1944 2,384,191 Neely Sept. 4, 1945 2,392,254 Mayer Jan. 1, 1946 2,526, 84 Williams et al Oct. 17, 1950 2,551,800 Hopkes May 8, 1951 

